In our usual quest to find the slightly different side of Romania, we have received the following information from a Romanian journalist on the paranormal history of the Hoia-Baciu Forest, deep in the centre of Romania….
In the heart of the Ardeal region, you can find one of the most mysterious locations of Romania. A lot of ink has flowed on the subject of the Hoia-Baciu Forest, just as many, many curious people have passed through this place looking for the “between worlds” in the hope of catching a bit of the paranormal. Some of them have really had some inexplicable experiences that make even the most courageous people shiver.
The Hoia-Baciu Forest is, for sure, one of the most famous locations in Romania. A series of inexplicable phenomena have been investigated and analyzed over the years, resulting in the area being labelled (bizarrely) as “The Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania.”
The area has become famous since 1968. However, the locals have known of its existence since time began. They have kept avoiding it as it is considered an evil place where strange things happen. They all have known that once they have got among the trees, they are able to hear the rustle that seems to come from another world where all the fears of the human subconscious come to life and appear in the way of the ones that are foolish enough to venture into such a place.
The locals have claimed on their own that once they have gone into the forest to chop wood, cut the grass or pick blueberries, something strange happens to all of them. From their first steps into the forest, they were hit by inexplicable states of nausea, anxiety, head aches and, sometimes, even burns on their skin. The Hoia-Baciu Forest was a taboo subject for a long time, because people were afraid to even talk about it since the place was considered to be cursed and even occupied by the Devil.
Alexandru Sift, a biologist, started to study those paranormal phenomena that were supposed to happen in the oak wood. He was seduced by the fame of this forest and intrigued by all the incredible stories he was hearing from the locals. He started going on many trips in the Hoia-Baciu Forest, noticing that, every time, among the trees, some strange shadows were accompanying him. Being brave, he pursued his research and even managed to take some pictures of the “shadows”. Much to his surprise, even from the development of the images, he could notice, besides the shadows, some other forms, lights and figures that could not be noticed by the human eyes. Since then, many research workers have been lured by the fascination of exploring the area.
On the 18th of August 1968, a 45 year old military technician called Emil Barnea, ignoring the warning of the villagers, spent some resting time during the weekend away from the stressful life of the city. He was accompanied by his girlfriend and two family friends. At approximately 1:00 pm, while looking for some wood to start a fire, he was suddenly called by his friends. This was the point where Emil Barnea saw what appeared to be an UFO that was flying above the forest, without making any noise whatsoever.
“The strange flying object started to suddenly shine, making an upsetting tactical exercise in the air. Without any warning, the object accelerated tino the sky in an oblique direction. Following it through the view finder of his camera, he managed to take 3 shots. After the development of the images, the technician from the city of Cluj contemplated the pictures that were considered, in time, by the international specialists in studying the UFO phenomena to be “the clearest images of a UFO taken in Romania and some of the most beautiful ones of a UFO ever.”
Following this experience Emil Barnea contacted Florin Gheorghita and Ion Hobana, the most famous Romanian UFO scientists. They confirmed the authenticity of the pictures. After the pictures were filtered by the authorities of the time, they were taken over by Agerpres, the national agency of press and they became public, even attracting interest outside Romania. The fame of the pictures reached the climax when they were introduced by the professor C. S. Vonkeviziczky in the UFO International Congress in Acapulco.
The Hoia-Baciu Forest is still a point of fascination, especially because of what the witnesses say about the strange physical sensations, the lights in the middle of the night, the shapes, forms, the strange appearances of human faces, the voices and the different colours.
The place has apparently become famous among the paranormal events specialists, teams of famous scientific explorers from Germany, France, USA and Hungary visiting the Hoia-Baciu Forest, even during those dark days of communism, to catch some inexplicable phenomena!!